In most instances the DAC has sufficient gain and sufficiently low impedance to drive the power amp through a pot. InnuOS has the server recommended at 100% which has nothing to do with the question. It is the DAC’s output section that matters. BTW: absent serious but rare impedance mismatches all that a pre adds is more distortion/ colouring.
Do Audiophiles usually keep the gain of the digital source at around 80%?
My setup is:
A8 Eversolor DAC and streamer
McIntosh C12000 preamp
REL sub 810
Focal Sopra n1 speakers.
861 Moon amp
I keep my McIntosh preamp usually between 50-60% volume. Any higher would make the sound thin like.
For the Eversolo streamer (which I am enjoying quite a bit for the money), I keep between 75% -85% max gain. With older songs that are recorded at lower volume, I have it at 85%. But with songs that are recorded louders (mostly newer songs) it would cause some/slight clipping at that level so I to have lower the gain to about 75% max gain.
I saw that there was a max volume throughput option on the Eversolo, but when I try that I can’t really get the system as loud as I want it without clipping and distortion setting in early.
Is this normal for Audiophiles to keep the gain on the digital signal about 80%?
Wasn’t sure if this should go into digital forums or preamps since both are used here, so I posted here.
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It sounds like your experience may be limited to budget preamps. I would advise auditioning high-end units. An excellent, thoughtfully chosen pre that synergizes well with your system has infinitely more impact on sound quality than $20,000 worth of tweaks. |
ReplayGain in Eversolo, WiiM or other streamers is commonly implemented via metadata (i.e., data about the audio data), not through destructive or lossy digital processing. It works by analyzing the audio file and storing the recommended gain and peak levels as metadata tags. A compatible player then reads this metadata and adjusts the playback volume accordingly. The original audio data remains intact. |
@drmuso , CD standard calls for 2 V ouput from RCA, HDCD standard calls for 2.2 V output from RCA. Balanced XLR ouput doubles that. Depending on the DAC's bit count,voltage and impedance outputs, included volume control, available switching capabilities, and the amplifiers input impedance and input sensitivity (for which there doesn't seem to have followed standards) one might be able to forgo the line stage of a preamp. |
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